Your Naval Ancestors

Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, Royal Museums Greenwich website

Recently I came across several interesting-looking websites with a nautical theme, so if you have ancestors who served in the navy – and there are some American resources here too – perhaps one or two of these sites will help with your research or some background information.

Royal Museums Greenwich

Online collections of historical artefacts with a naval connection, as well as the Caird Library & Archive, which includes hundreds of thousands of books, pamphlets, periodicals, manuscripts, and maps, covering every aspect of maritime history.  Was your ancestor a mutineer, a navigator, shipwrecked, or in the Royal Navy? (hopefully not all four).  Register in advance of your visit and ask the archivists’ advice.

National Museum of The Royal Navy

A significant collection of archives and photographs is held by the museum.  These include over 2 million individual items, with personnel records from key branches of the Royal Navy, as well as journals, letters and diaries dating from the American War of Independence to Afghanistan in 2003, plus rich photographic resources.  Many of these have been donated by members of the public.

The National Archives, Kew
Use TNA's online guides to learn what records they hold for tracing merchant and royal navy personnel.  Tick the appropriate boxes on the left of the page to narrow down the results - there are dozens of record categories to choose from.  Some are only available at the archives, while others can be accessed online.  Currently, those that can be downloaded direct from TNA are included in their free record service - diverse records such as those from the Battle of Trafalgar or WW2 merchant shipping movement cards.

Naval-History.net

This website's highlights include transcriptions of Royal Navy WWI ships’ log books, and United States Revenue Cutter Service/Coast Guard and Geodetic survey ships’ logs.

Society for Nautical Research

Brush up your historical naval knowledge with articles on historical topics and regular online seminars, free to non-society members.

Gathering Some Leaves for the Tree

Blaeu's 1654 Map of Britain

It’s autumn in the northern hemisphere, so in this post I share some interesting genealogy sources that will hopefully lend detail and colour to the leaves of your family tree.  I’ve collected some free guides for records of the British Isles.

No matter how many times you’ve used these records, you can always pick up more tips on how to read or use them in a different way, especially by studying the official guides written by their keepers.

Scotland

National Records of Scotland Research Guides: A-Z of record types from adoption to wills & testaments.

And, did you know that you can search for and view historical images on ScotlandsPeople at no cost? These include categories such as aerial photography, historic sites and monuments, social issues, and transport. 

England & Wales

The National Archives: How to look for records of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales.

National Library of Wales: Help with your family history research – including Getting Started, and guides to different record types like tithe maps. 

Ireland

PRONI: Archives for family and local history.  A comprehensive listing of resources for tracing ancestors on the island of Ireland.

National Archives of Ireland: Sources for family & local history.  An introduction to what’s available via the Archives in Dublin and its website.

Keep an eye on the blog for more autumnal family tree tips!

Free Family History Mini-Class : Lesson 10

For the final lesson in this series of mini-classes, I’m sharing some online tools that you may find helpful as you continue with your research, whether that’s just beginning or is a long-term project.  These ideas can build your skills as well as your family tree – and like everything else in this course, they are completely free.

☙  Try a spot of descendant research, using the intriguing Puzzilla app that connects to your FamilySearch Tree.

☙  Have FT Analyzer check out your GEDCOM file for potential lines of research or problems. Family Tree Magazine’s Rachel Bellerby gave it a test drive and you can read her review here.

☙  Mind mapping for genealogy – use this study idea to organise your research, and perhaps download the free software it suggests. 

  

☙  Choose some of these PDF family tree charts to organise and display your genealogy.

☙  And finally, sign up now for virtual family history conference RootsTech Connect – access to all the classes and resources will be absolutely free of charge, but you do need to register to attend. 

Thanks for taking my mini-classes! You can review them any time

here on the Frugal Family History blog, or share them with your genealogy buddies – and come back soon to check out 

what else is new here.

Free Family History Mini-Class : Lesson 9

In this lesson I recommend some helpful websites from the virtual library “reference shelf”.  Genealogists are constantly having to look things up, whether it be dates for historical context, or the meaning of obsolete words and phrases.  Below are some sources that could come in handy next time you’re stuck.

Family History Reference

FamilySearch Wiki  A real miscellany of useful genealogical resources. You can learn about different types of records, find out what’s available for a specific country and where, or download forms and worksheets, to name just a few of its features.

GENUKI  The must-have in your toolkit for British research.  It breaks the UK up into its constituent parts (not forgetting the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands), then counties, with location and contact information for archives, libraries, family history societies and parish churches.

Maps & Gazetteers

National Library of Scotland Maps  With UK-wide coverage and the capacity to compare areas in different time periods, this is a perennial favourite with family historians.

Gazetteer of British Place Names  Search by postcode or place name with this superb reference tool.

Hometown Locator is my go-to gazetteer when working with United States records.  You can search or browse states, counties, and cities.

     Dictionaries  

Dictionary of the Scots Language  Stumped by an old Scottish will, or just baffled by Burns?  Then this is the perfect solution.

Genealogy Latin Dictionary  For when you come across a random phrase in a parish register and have forgotten all your schoolgirl Latin.

Obsolete Things

The National Archives’ Old Currency Converter  Ever wondered where historical documentaries get their “in today’s money” equivalents?  Wonder no longer.

Old Medical Terminology  Great for understanding more about what killed off your ancestors in days gone by.

History, Geography, & General Knowledge

Encyclopaedia Britannica  The world’s longest running encyclopaedia moved online many years ago, but it’s still more trustworthy than popular alternatives.  Excellent for putting your ancestors’ lives in a social or historical context.

Next week, in the final mini-class,

I’ll share some great free research tools.